What You’ve Got to Give is Enough

I woke this morning dreaming of big, delicious cupcakes with thick frosting and cream filling. You know the kind. Talk about sweet dreams. Amen.

And because everything in my life is a spiritual analogy, it made me think of the parable Jesus tells about a guy whose friend comes to town unexpectedly. He has nothing to feed his guest, so he goes to his neighbor and asks for bread.

At first, the neighbor whines about it being late at night, but the guy keeps on banging and eventually gets the bread. The whole point of the parable is that if a cranky neighbor will give you bread when you ask, how much more will the God who deeply loves you do the same—and give you even more than you need.

But this morning I noticed something for the first time. The guy was asking for bread for someone else, not for himself. And he says three little words that caught me by surprise: “I have nothing.”

Insecurity prompts us to say those words too, doesn’t it? But having nothing didn’t stop this man. In fact, it provided a reason to make a request.

What if we responded that way too?

Someone needs bread—perhaps physically, or maybe emotionally or spiritually. Yet we feel we have nothing to offer. And really, apart from Christ, that’s true. But we aren’t apart from Him, ever. And we have limitless access to all of His resources.

So God invites us to ask for bread on behalf of ourselves and each other. And to ask boldly, persistently.

“Give us each day our daily bread,” goes the line in the Lord’s Prayer. What if that bread isn’t just for us? What if it’s for someone else too?

Either way, all we have to do is ask. The answer may not be what we have in mind, but we can trust it will always come from a God who loves us.

And I’ve decided I’m not just asking for any ol’ bread if I’m talking to the limitless God of the universe, who promises to provide for us. I’m doing a little dreaming and asking for blessings that are like cupcakes to pass around—big, delicious ones with pink frosting and cream filling.

Welcome to the Coffee for Your Heart weekly link-up! You’re an encourager so I’m asking you to pour out a little love with your words every Wednesday {link-up goes live at 5:30am CST}. Simply write an encouraging blog post and then share it here with us.

If you’d like a writing prompt to get you going, here’s a list I created just for you: 30 Writing Prompts.

Pretty please use this new button in your post so others can easily join in with us {html code in right sidebar}…

And when you link up your post, take a moment to leave an encouraging comment on the one that’s linked up just before yours. Thanks, friends!

Holley, I love this story, your sweet dreams :), and the idea that even when we do feel as if we have nothing to offer we can ask. I love to give gifts and don’t like to be empty handed with people. But sometimes we are. we’re not in a place or perhaps they ask and all we have is prayer to pray with them and a hug. Its okay, right? In fact many times those are the gifts that mean the most. Thanks for the reminder!

I think I’d be asking for bread…and maybe a really good, gooey dark chocolate brownie..for my visitor, of course ;). But you’re right–it’s a liberating thought to know that we can ask for ourselves OR for others.

Such great perspective! I too often feel as if I have nothing–or nothing else–to give, even to my family! But what if we always remembered to ask God?! And on a side note, it’s my husband’s birthday and I’m buying some of those big yummy cupcakes! Oh yeah!

What if that bread isn’t just for us? What if it’s for someone else too?

And that’s the crux. otherwise once we’ve tasted, we’d be up with him in a flash enjoying all our meals. a great post and reminder, holley, to stay at His table – for me, for another. must get at it, coffee’s made. thanks, again.

Holley, I think this is my favorite post of yours thus far. You are the queen of the short, poignant blog post. I am a woman of MANY words who wishes she could be more succinct.

I walked by you at Allume on Thursday and said, “Hi”, and then after I passed by, I was like, “Oh my goodness – that was Holley Gerth!” It was my first year to go and I was excited to see some of my favorite bloggers up close.

Holley, what a fresh perspective on this verse! I was listening to a conference call with Jeff Shinabarger this morning and he challenge the listeners to think of what you can provide for others and focus in on that. Reading your post, all I could think was, “And God will make a way”. I love it when He weaves messages together that way!

Isn’t that life…praying (asking for bread) for others too!! What I have found to be so humbling and fulfilling is to realize others have prayed for me!! This is God’s perfect circle, a continuous, never ending circle of prayers for one another. God’s Blessings to all!

What a great thought! I love how words pop out in scriptures sometimes and bring a whole new clarity to how we think on them : ) Bread not just for me but for all of us……! I also now have cupcakes on the brain…thanks for the encouragement and good sugary thoughts today!

Waking up thinking about sweets? My kind of morning! This made me think of something silly about cupcakes. You can easily just have the plain simple ones, but with work you can have even more elaborate ones. The same goes with blessings. With patience, work, and prayer, you can have blessings that exceed your wildest “sweet dreams.”

Oh, the heart of grace is in the continually giving of gifts to one another. I love the way you shared the truth here, and of course thinking of cupcakes..well, yum! 🙂 I’ve read this many times, too, but I love how you pulled out this ministry of love..loving God and loving others right here in the parable of sharing.

Your blog reaches near and far. Reading this post today from my home that doesn’t really feel like home in Milan, Italy. Thank you for the reminder that maybe I’m not called to just ask God for my own comfort, peace and courage today in a foreign city…maybe, just maybe, I’m called to ask God for those precious gifts for someone else. Better yet, maybe I’m called to be the gift myself! Thank you for your wisdom and encouragement, Holley! Blessings…

I saw this yesterday but didn’t read it until this afternoon after a sad morning reflecting on some recent failures. Holley, your sensitivity to hearing His voice is such a blessing. I am sure there are others out there who needed to be reminded that we are on this journey of faith that requires we trust Him. He who knows all things never changes His mind about the good plans He has in mind for each of us. It is we who waver in thoughts of doubt and unbelief thinking we are unable to keep going on. I am encouraged to “keep keeping on” in spite of the setbacks knowing that He already believes I can do it.